West Coast University (WCU) College of Nursing | 88% NCLEX Pass Rates

West Coast University College of Nursing contributes to the advancement of healthcare in the communities served locally and around the world by staying ahead of the curve with the latest technologically advanced facilities and Nursing programs.

40% of reviewers agree that tuition and other associated costs are reasonable.

Reach Your Goals!

40% of reviewers believe academic standards help students reach their goals.

Great Support!

20% of reviewers believe support provided by teachers and staff are great.

West Coast University offers nursing programs for the undergraduate and graduate nursing student. Courses are available online and on campus. We are known as one of the largest educators of Registered Nurses throughout the state of California. WCU also offers a very unique opportunity for the Nursing student to receive hands-on experience with patients in an international setting.

Global Public Health Program

Students who choose to enter the Global Public Health Program will have the opportunity to travel abroad and earn 40 clinical hours that are applied towards the public health requirement of their program(s). During this 2-week opportunity, students will be able to work with the medically undeserved of the area(s).

WCU has a “student-centric" philosophy offering advantages including:

Classes available when you need them — no waitlists or lottery systems

WCU offers Career Services and Contemporary Forums - Designed for students to have support during and after graduation. Graduates are offered generous discounts and other benefits for continuing education

Scholarships available — merit-based and need-based scholarships available for those who qualify

Challenge/Advanced Placement for Military Personnel

Military Health Care Trained individuals may be eligible to receive credit for previous education.

History of WCU

West Coast University started in Los Angeles as a small, single classroom ophthalmology school. David Pyle took over the leadership in 1997 and in 2004 started education programs for healthcare professionals.

Currently, West Coast University provides several locations in Southern California, Texas, and Florida.

Campus Locations

Dallas, Texas

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles Center for Graduate Studies, California

Miami, Florida

Ontario, California

Orange County, California

Campus Programs

Undergraduate Degrees

Bachelor of Science in Nursing

LVN to BSN

BS in Nursing (Florida)

LPN to BSN (Florida)

Online Undergraduate Degrees

RN to BSN

Online RN to MSN Degrees

RN to MSN - Advanced Generalist

RN to MSN - Family Nurse Practitioner

RN to MSN - Nurse Educator

RN to MSN - Informatics

Online Graduate Degrees

MSN - Advanced Generalist

MSN - Family Nurse Practitioner

MSN - Nurse Educator

MSN - Informatics

Post Master's FNP Certificate

UNDERGRADUATE

BSN Entrance Examination Requirements (not all inclusive)

Two maximum attempts to pass, one week apart

Verbal and Quantitative Scores for SAT and ACT

HESI Exams within 3 years of enrollment

TEAS exams within 1 year of enrollment

BSN & LVN/LPN-BSN Transfer Credit Evaluation

Must provide official transcripts by the first day of the first semester

General education, prerequisites, and core nursing coursework taken from a national or regionally accredited institution

If a nursing student is interested in transferring, there must only be one year between the end of the previous nursing course and the beginning of the first course at West Coast University. Exceptions may be considered

BSN program maximum allowable transfer credits will not exceed 52 credits of general education

LVN/LPN-BSN Licensure Requirements (not all inclusive)

Must hold a current unrestricted LVN license

Transcripts may be requested

LVN to RN 30 Unit Option

West Coast University offers a 30 unit option for Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVN) as required by the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN). Those who choose the 30 Unit option must take Physiology, Microbiology, and selected pre-licensure nursing courses. Students do not receive a certificate or degree from West Coast University and are not considered a graduate of the University. Students interested in the 30 unit option must express a desire for this option prior to enrolling in the WCU LVN to BSN program. The option to take the 30 Unit expires once students have enrolled and have started the WCU LVN to BSN program. Students who successfully complete the LVN to RN 30 Unit option will be eligible to take the NCLEX-RN examination.

RN to BSN Transfer Credits

The RN to BSN program allows 42 transfer credits for an unrestricted current RN license issued in the United States as well as up to 42 credits of general education transfer credits (total of 84 transfer credits).

Those enrolled in the RN to BSN program are exempt from specific general education requirements because they will be taken within the course. Official transcripts must be submitted the first day of the first term of the course at the University to receive transfer credits. General education transfer credits may also apply if the student submits their official transcripts by six months of starting education at WCU. College-level coursework will be considered for transfer credit. All coursework must have been taken at an institution accredited by an agency recognized by the United States Department of Education.

Those with a composite score of 8 or above will be admitted to the university. Exceptions for students who receive a score 2-7 will be taken under conditional consideration. Those students must receive a 58.7% on the TEAS examination to be allowed entrance into the core courses.

Minimum cumulative score 192.3 on the TEAS Examination or minimum 80 on the HESI Examination

A conditional acceptance is for students with a cumulative score TEAS of 129 to 192.2, or a score on the HESI from 76 to 79.5

RN to BSN (Online) Admissions Requirements (not all inclusive)

Provide proof of a current unrestricted Registered Nurse (RN) license from the United States

Students who are not yet licensed may be admitted if they meet all other admissions criteria but must show proof of licensure prior to entering the third trimester of the program.

Submit official transcripts from a Board of Nursing licensed Associate Degree or Diploma in Nursing program

May be conditionally admitted by providing unofficial transcripts or a copy of the conferred nursing degree

Applicants with a valid license may be admitted with approved documentation of earned high school degree or equivalent pending receipt of official transcripts of nursing degree

Failure to present a valid RN license will result in dismissal from the university until such time license is current and unrestricted

GRADUATE

MSN Program Admissions Requirements

Applicants for the Master of Science in Nursing Program (all tracks) must meet the following admissions requirements (not all inclusive):

Minimum Bachelor of Science in Nursing or closely related field from an accredited institution recognized by the United States Department of Education. Students with a Bachelor of Science degree in a field other than Nursing will be required to verify course work or experience in undergraduate research, leadership/management, and public/community health. If course work is required, the student may be admitted to the program, but must complete the additional course requirements before starting the MSN core courses.

A grade-point average of 3.0 or higher is required. Applicants with an undergraduate cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 2.7 to 2.99 may be considered for admission on probation, but must achieve a B (3.0) or better in the first 9 credits in the program to be removed from probation.

Non-English transcripts must refer to the International Admissions section of the catalog.

Provide proof of current unrestricted professional licensure as a Registered Nurse (RN) in the United States.

Complete the Introductory Statistics course with a grade of “C” or better, equivalent to MATH 211 (Applied Statistics).

Students in the Family Nurse Practitioner track must have completed a minimum of one year of direct patient care nursing experience within the past 2 years.

Those applying will be evaluated on past academic performance and professional activity. e.g., community, organizational, and volunteer service, and creative professional accomplishments.

Submission of three letters of recommendation from health care professionals or other non-family professionals.

Preferred one year of direct patient care nursing experience within the past five years. The FNP track has an exception that requires one year of full time experience in direct care prior to entering FNP core classes.

Interesting Facts about WCU

In 2008, WCU became the first privately held university in California to be approved to offer a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing.

Shortly after, in 2010, WCU received approval to award the Master of Science degrees in Nursing.

Not long ago, in 2015, West Coast University launched WCU Online, providing online coursework for the RN-BSN, RN-MSN and MSN programs.

Accreditation

The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) has accredited the Baccalaureate and Master's Programs in Nursing at all WCU campuses.

Latest Reviews (Max 10)

I just finished my last nursing core at the school. I still have my proprietorship and exit exam left. Overall, my experience at WCU was not so bad. I worked full and part times throughout my 3 years at the school. I struggled in some classes but most of the classes were not so difficult.

About The Staff

They are ok. They perform what they have to perform.

Things To Know

If you need some advice message me.

Jun 6, 9:41 am by
Student

Overall: 1.7 Avg Rating

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Program: BSNClasses: On Campus

My Experience

WCU has an accelerated BSN program & the term can be completed In only 9 weeks! They claim that they're "AHEAD" of the curve with their fancy mannequins that can do human actions and interactions. However, this is a tactic they use to get students to apply! This is not a place of education, it's a BUSINESS! Don't ignore all those horrible reviews they have online, just look on Yelp & Google! This institution has let a lot of nursing students down and have crashed their hopes and dreams!...all for some Cash, it ain't cheap! Trust me, the people leaving the positive comments about WCU, probably work for the school! The nice and expensive mannequins...the students hardly get to use them! Professors there…..what professors? You will be on your own! Five hours lectures that they don't even bother to teach! They rely completely on a computed ATI system to do everything....& expect students to teach themselves. Honestly, many of us wouldn't be surprised if what recently happened to Devry institute also happens to WCU the way they're heading and treating pupils! It's a business. NURSING SCHOOL should never be treated as a business! We will have people’s lives in our hands! It’s crucial we get proper education! You are never told what mistakes you made, so how do these nurses really know what's right or wrong? Honestly, I would never trust a WCU nurse after attending this school! Go to a school where you will find professors that truly enjoy nursing and care about their students! Also a spacious school….WCU institution is very small. Most of the money goes to the mannequins ( I think prof. Said one eye was $17,000) parking is compacted & far away! Library super small, no cafe. Not enough study room! Please please please! Spend your money somewhere else trust me! You won't regret it! I guarantee it! Love you all my future nurses! We are one voice! Speak up!

This school is very unprofessional and unorganized. The first term of nursing core was a horrible experience. I had never failed a class until nursing core. My cohort took Fundamentals with the HORRIBLE (MODERATOR EDIT OF NAME - PLEASE DO NOT POST NAMES PER TOS). She never emailed back, she wasted time in class talking about the dress code for 3 hrs rather than teaching, her quizzes had many errors, etc. When it came to one of our last quizzes on wound care everyone full on failed it and nothing was done about that. Then when the final came they changed our testing from blackboard to ati due to students cheating. Well this meant COMPLETELY different question styles all the sudden on our last exam that could cause us to fail or pass the course. Many students failed the ATI final exam because a lot of it was on stuff we were not taught. So they allowed us to retake the final with the original exam. Many students still were not passing due to many issues throughout the 10 weeks. We had asked for a case study like the previous students had been offered because they were failing (NAME EDIT) class too. Three cohorts before mine were struggling exactly like we were. They denied the case study so there was about 48 of us in the class and 20 of us had to retake it. We had to retake it with the same professor, they were setting us up for failure. So now this is a different set of students that I am now in due to failing along with others that failed. Quiz one, many students failed. What did WCU do? They offered these students a case study right away! When they denied us last term a case study in general. Quiz 6 was not even given, it was an easy case study. The other quizzes had the answers within them. The midterm and final were repeats of the quizzes and still had the answers in them. Week 5 they finally (EDIT NAME) gave us another professor who was so much better. But again why did they not do this a long time ago?! Not one student failed this term. Thats how BS this school is. They are unfair, unorganized, unprofessional. I emailed (EDIT NAME) asking if she could reverse my fail due to all the interventions they offered this term and not last term and I had only failed by ONE PERCENT. She denied it. Do not go here.

About The Staff

They are unfair and horrible.

May 24, 2:02 am by
Alumni

Overall: 1.8 Avg Rating

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Program: BSNClasses: On Campus, OnlineGraduation: 2015

My Experience

The program is very expensive and accelerated, so you are overloaded and always cramming for exams. It is impossible to do all the assigned reading and you depend on your study guides. There is a lot of curving of scores. All the core classes have an ATI portion which can cause you to get a low grade. A lot of students flunk out before graduation. It is stressful but if you graduate, the NCLEX preparation is very good. Everyone that I know that graduated passed the NCLEX. The NCLEX part is very well organized.

About The Staff

There seem to be new administrators and managers every few terms. The instructors try their best but it is very accelerated. The Financial Aid staff seem to be very inexperienced.

Things To Know

In my program everyone got clinical assignments and preceptorships, which were really good. Now there is a lottery for actual clinical spots because they have so many more students. If I paid that much money, I would demand clinical positions. My preceptorship helped me get my first job.

May 23, 12:26 pm by
Student

Overall: 2.2 Avg Rating

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Program: BSNClasses: On Campus, OnlineGraduation: 2016

My Experience

I graduated with honors and breezed through the California NCLEX in 76 questions. The goal of the program is to graduate students who will pass the NCLEX, otherwise students get weeded out prior to graduation but not before they have paid the enormous tuition. The emphasis of the program is on passing the NCLEX, not on deep learning and comprehension. Do you really think you can learn Pediatric Nursing or Pathophysiology in a 7 week, once a week class? To succeed, you must be disciplined and self-motivated and able to commit 100% for the duration of the program.

About The Staff

There is constant turnover in all departments.

Things To Know

For all its faults, the program graduates BSN-RNs who can find jobs as nurses. I advise anyone considering WCU to look at all their available options before committing to this program.